4 New Routes, 170,000 Customers P.A. At Tbilisi & Kutaisi

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (21 August) announced its first ever flights from Georgia, the 39^th country in the Ryanair network, with a new route from Tbilisi to Milan Bergamo and two new routes from Kutaisi to Bologna and Marseille, which start in November as part of Ryanair’s Winter 2019 schedule. Ryanair will also connect Tbilisi to Cologne in April as part of Ryanair’s Summer 2020 schedule and deliver 170,000 customers annually to/from Ryanair’s Georgian airports.

 

Ryanair’s Georgia 19/20 schedule will deliver:

• 2 new routes from Tbilisi to Milan Bergamo (4 pw) starting from November & Cologne (2pw) from April20
• 2 new routes from Kutaisi to Bologna (2 pw) & Marseille (2 pw)
• 170,000 customers p.a.
• Over 100* “on-site” jobs p.a.

Georgian consumers and visitors can now book their holidays as far out as October 2020, enjoying even lower fares and Ryanair’s recently announced 2019 customer care improvements, including:

• Lowest Fares – find a cheaper fare within 3 hours, get paid the difference plus €5 MyRyanair credit
• Punctuality – deliver 90% target (excl. ATC) or 5% off following month’s air fares
• Customer Care Charter – EU261 claims processed in 10 days, new 24/7 support, connect in 2 mins
• Care Improvements – 48-hour free of charge grace period for changes to bookings
• Environmental Improvements – carbon offset programme, environmental partners & plastic free in 5 years
• New Ryanair Choice – €199 annual fee for free seats, fast-track & priority boarding for freq. guests
• Digital Improvements – new fare finder, sports tickets, bespoke travel guides & faster mobile

To celebrate the launch of its first Georgian airports, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from just €9.99, for travel in November and December, which must be booked by midnight Friday (23 Aug) only on the Ryanair.com website.

 

Ryanair’s David O’Brien said:

“We’re pleased to announce Ryanair’s low fares have arrived at Tbilisi and Kutaisi, our newest airports and 1^st airports in Georgia. These four new routes that will start in November (except Cologne, starting in April next year), will further promote Georgian tourism, and will deliver over 170,000 customers annually to/from two European countries to one of Europe’s fastest-growing tourism destinations. We look forward to developing new Georgian traffic growth, new routes, and jobs in the coming years.

 To celebrate, we are releasing seats for sale on our network from just €9.99 for travel in November and December which are available for booking until midnight Friday (23 Aug). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”

 

*ACI research confirms up to 750 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1m passengers

 

Ryanair pilots and their union Fórsa yesterday evening (14 Aug) withdrew from Mediation talks chaired by Mr Kieran Mulvey when no progress was made on their unrealistic and unimplementable pay proposals.

 

At yesterday’s mediation, the Ryanair Pilots Committee and Fórsa confirmed that they are seeking pay increases of 101% on top of current annual pay of over €172,000. Ryanair Pilots are insisting on these pay demands being met, just one day after Norwegian announced the closure of its Dublin operations with the loss of over 120 crew jobs, despite the fact that Ryanair has a surplus of over 500 pilots due to the delayed delivery of over 30 MAX aircraft this winter, and just 10 weeks before a “no-deal” Brexit could cause further disruption to air travel and airline jobs in Ireland and the UK.

 

Ryanair has called on its pilots and the Fórsa union to return to Independent Mediation with reasonable proposals which reflect the falling airfares and profits Ryanair has recently reported, as well as the fact that Ryanair pilot pay is already 20% ahead of comparable 737 airline pilot pay in Norwegian and Jet2.

 

Speaking yesterday evening, Ryanair’s Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson said:

 

“We have done everything in our power to avoid disruption to our flights and our customers’ holidays. However, no company can concede to grossly unreasonable demands from its highest paid workers for a further pay increase of over 100% (when they already agreed and received a 20% pay increase earlier this year) at a time when the airline industry is in crisis.

 

Ryanair pilots who are already among the best paid workers in Ireland are now threatening to disrupt the holiday travel plans of thousands of customers over the coming weeks as they demand that their pay be increased from €172,000 p.a. to over €347,000 p.a. that would see them earn more than the President of Ireland or our Taoiseach, even as Norwegian makes all of its Dublin pilots redundant. We remain willing to engage in Mediation with our pilots and Fórsa but call on them to avoid disrupting our customers’ travel plans in pursuit of what are clearly unrealistic and unimplementable pay proposals.”

Dublin 9 Aug – Ryanair is disappointed that the pilots union FÓRSA is threatening to disrupt customers’ travel plans during August when its ballot has the support of less than 25% of Ryanair’s Irish pilots.

 

The result of FÓRSA’s ballot shows that less than half of Ryanair’s Irish pilots are members of FÓRSA, and less than 60% of these FÓRSA members participated in the ballot with less than 25% of Ryanair’s Irish Pilots voting for industrial action. This disruption of customers’ holiday plans has no  valid mandate from Ryanair’s Irish Pilots.

 

Since summer 2018, Ryanair and FÓRSA have engaged in a mediation process under Mr Kieran Mulvey which has delivered collective agreements on promotions, transfers, seniority and most recently (April 2019), a pay increase of up to 20% for those Irish pilots who had not agreed this 20% increase in 2018. Ryanair’s Irish pilots also enjoy a 5 on, 4 off roster (a double bank holiday every week).

 

On 30^th July Fórsa gave an undertaking to Mediator Kieran Mulvey that they would return to mediation next week (beginning 11 Aug) with specific pay proposals, which they have failed to provide either to Ryanair or Kieran Mulvey for over 6 months now.

 

FÓRSA are still unable to explain what pay increase they are seeking on top of the 20% increase already agreed, at a time when Ryanair pilots resignations have dwindled to zero because Ryanair pilots are better paid than 737 competitor pilots in Norwegian (who are cutting pilot pay and jobs) and Jet2 (who have frozen pilot pay in return for improved rosters).  The pay deals already agreed with FÓRSA have deliver pay increases of up to 20% at a time when Ryanair profits are falling due to higher fuel and payroll costs, with Senior Captains now earning over €200,000 p.a. for working five days on, followed by four days off. Ryanair pilots already earn 20% more than pilots in comparable 737 airlines like Norwegian.

 

This FÓRSA threat of industrial action has no mandate from Ryanair pilots, and is ill-timed just 10 weeks before a hard Brexit, while Ryanair is in the process of letting excess pilots go due to the Boeing MAX delivery delays. FÓRSA should continue in mediation and avoid threatening unnecessary disruptions to customers holidays and travel plans.

 

Ryanair now calls on FÓRSA to explain why it is announcing industrial action and customer disruptions while it is still in a mediation process, led by Mr Kieran Mulvey, under which they have yet to table any specific pay proposals. FÓRSA should now continue mediation with Ryanair instead of threatening ill-judged and ill-timed industrial action with the sole intention of creating uncertainty for customers travelling during the late August period.

Ryanair today (8 Aug) released its July CO₂ emissions statistics, which show an ave. of 67g CO₂ per passenger/km.

 

	July 2019
Total Kilometres	18,832m km
Total Passengers	14.8m
Total CO2 Emissions	1,267 kt
CO2 Per Pax/km	67g

 

With the highest passenger load factor (96%) and one of the youngest fleets (ave. of 6 years), Ryanair delivers the lowest CO₂ per passenger/km in the EU airline industry. Ryanair’s CO₂ per pax/km has been cut from 82g to 67g over the last decade while other high fare competitors currently generate over 120g per pax/km.

 

Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:

 “Ryanair is Europe’s greenest/cleanest major airline with the youngest fleet and highest load factors. Our CO2 per passenger/km for July is 67g, half the rate of other flag carrier European airlines, and we are committed to reducing this by a further 10% to under 60g per pax/km by 2030.

As part of Ryanair’s environmental commitment, we are investing over US$20 billion in a fleet of 210 new Boeing 737 aircraft, which will carry 4% more passengers but reduce fuel burn by 16% and cut noise emissions by 40%.”

Dublin 7 Aug – We are disappointed that the pilots union BALPA, is threatening to disrupt our customers travel plans during late August, early September, when it has the support of less than 30% of Ryanair’s UK pilots.

 

The independent result of BALPA’s ballot shows that less than 50% of Ryanair’s UK pilots are members of BALPA, and of these, just 57% voted in favour of industrial action. This is less than 30% of Ryanair’s UK pilots. It is notable that over 70% of Ryanair’s UK pilots are either not members of BALPA, or did not vote in BALPA’s ballot, or voted against industrial action. BALPA have no mandate to disrupt our customers holidays and flights, particularly at a time when UK pilots are facing job losses due to the Boeing MAX delivery delays, and the threat of a no deal Brexit on 31 Oct.

 

Last year, Ryanair’s UK pilots agreed a 20% salary increase, with Senior Captain’s earning up to £180,000 p.a., which is more than competitor airline pilots in Norwegian or Jet2. BALPA is recommending a pay freeze for Jet2 pilots in return for improved rosters (which Ryanair pilots already enjoy), and/or 12 months unpaid leave for Norwegian’s Gatwick pilots.

 

This BALPA industrial action has no mandate from Ryanair pilots, is ill-timed just 10 weeks before Brexit, and will cause unnecessary disruption to customers holidays and travel plans. We have written to BALPA asking them to return to talks, and we apologise sincerely to customers for any uncertainty that BALPA’s ballot may cause them. We hope BALPA will now work with Ryanair to minimise job losses instead of undertaking ill-judged and ill-timed industrial action.

 

ENDS

Editor’s note: Attached Ryanair’s letter 7^th August to BALPA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• 85% Of Customers Rate Ryanair ‘Excellent/Very Good’

• July Worst Month So Far In 2019 For ATC Delays

Ryanair today (7 Aug) released its July customer service statistics, which show that:

• 92% of July flights arrived on-time (up from 84% July 2018) excl. ATC delays
• ATC staff shortages delayed 16,500 Ryanair flights in July – the worst so far this year
• 86 flights cancelled (down from 1,768 in July 2018)

Ryanair also released its July ‘Rate My Flight’ customer experience scores, which show 85% of over 131,000 respondents rated their flight ‘Excellent/Very Good /Good’, with high ratings for crew friendliness (91%), onboard service (89%), range of food & drink (83%), and boarding (81%).

 

July – Rate My Flight	Excellent/Very Good /Good
Customer Experience	85%
Crew Friendliness	91%
Onboard Service	89%
Food & Drink Range	83%
Boarding	81%

 

Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:

“Ryanair carried almost 15m customers in July with over 92% of our 81,000 flights arriving on-time excl. ATC delays. While we continue to deliver industry leading punctuality, ATC staff shortages and disruptions regrettably had a huge impact in July across Europe – particularly in France, Germany, Spain, UK and Austria – making July the worst month so far in 2019 for these avoidable delays.

We’re very pleased that 85% of customers surveyed (over 131,000) rated their Ryanair flight in July as ‘Excellent/Very Good /Good’ using Ryanair’s Rate My Flight feature, which allows all customers to provide real-time reviews of their flights via the Ryanair app and email. We welcome this feedback, which encourages us to continuously improve our customer service.”

Ryanair Holdings PLC today (6 August) released July traffic statistics as follows:

 

	2018	2019      (LF)	Growth
Ryanair Group	13.6m	14.8m     (97%)	+9%
Ryanair	13.1m	14.2m     (97%)	+8%
Lauda*	0.5m	0.6m     (96%)	+20%

                                                                                   

*    Lauda traffic for July 2018, and rolling annual, includes pre-consolidation traffic.

 

Rolling Annual

134.4m

148.2m    (96%)

+10%

 

• Ryanair operated over 81,000 scheduled flights in July.